X
- 1993
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 21 m
- 1993
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 21 m
Summary Bruce Campbell stars as Ash, a hapless housewares clerk time-warped back to the Dark Ages by the demonic power of the Necronomicon. Now armed with only a '73 Oldsmobile, his trusty chainsaw and a 12-gauge double-barreled S-Mart shotgun, our knuckleheaded hero must battle vicious she-bitches, a diabolical Evil Ash and the relentless horde...
Directed By: Sam Raimi
Written By: Ivan Raimi, Sam Raimi
- 1993
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 21 m
- 1993
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 21 m
Army of Darkness
59
7.9
Where to Watch
Summary Bruce Campbell stars as Ash, a hapless housewares clerk time-warped back to the Dark Ages by the demonic power of the Necronomicon. Now armed with only a '73 Oldsmobile, his trusty chainsaw and a 12-gauge double-barreled S-Mart shotgun, our knuckleheaded hero must battle vicious she-bitches, a diabolical Evil Ash and the relentless horde...
Directed By: Sam Raimi
Written By: Ivan Raimi, Sam Raimi
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
59
47% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
41% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
13% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
59
47% Positive
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
41% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
13% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
All sword and sorcery movies are parodies, but Sam Raimi's "Army of Darkness" is the best intentional parody that hardware-heavy genre has ever seen, piling conventions from other genres on top of it until the screen seems a multilayered deli delight...Entertaining and ingeniously resourceful, it's a virtuosic comic-strip movie. [19 Feb 1993, p.30]
Ash's dialogue keeps the movie just goofy enough that even audiences that don't go in for schlock-horror phantasmagorias will be tickled. [19 Feb 1993, Calender, p.F-8]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 241 User Ratings
7.9
81% Positive
196 Ratings
196 Ratings
15% Mixed
35 Ratings
35 Ratings
4% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 241 User Ratings
7.9
81% Positive
196 Ratings
196 Ratings
15% Mixed
35 Ratings
35 Ratings
4% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
Enjoyably campy hokum.
The movie isn't as funny or entertaining as "Evil Dead II," however, maybe because the comic approach seems recycled.
Even diehard fans may long for something to hold the tacky flourishes together—a plot, or maybe even a guide that's more lucid than the Necronomicon.
A tedious mock-medieval adventure yarn that's easily the worst film so far this year...Without a single clever line of dialogue (by contrast, Arnold Schwarzenegger's one-liners rank with Oscar Wilde's) or a story of even marginal coherence, the movie relies entirely on visual overkill to bludgeon the viewer into a state of comatose submission. [19 Feb 1993, p.L23]
Contains spoilers
Army of Darkness is pure fun. This movie gave us the Ash that went down in pop culture.
Ash was already a badass in evil dead 2, but not until the end of the movie.
Here we can see Bruce Campbell as Ash in his prime. Bruce Campbell's comedic timing, charisma and line delivery are amazing. He not only has his funny but also his badass moments that could just come out of a Schwarzenegger film. He is like a combination of Clint Eastwood, Elvis and Jim Carrey.
Bruce Campbell is also a great physical actor. The different screams he can make and how he can make Ash suffer. The scene where one of the little Evil Ashes is in Ash's stomach shows how good Bruce is at overacting.
How Ash drinks boiling water to kill him in his stomach, enjoying it and suffering himself is just terrific.
This movie is the most epic but somehow also the funniest movie of the trilogy.
The one liners are legendary and this film has so many iconic scenes.
E.g. the scene in the fountain with the 2 deadites, the scene where he builds his hand, the boomstick scene, the scene where Ash forgets the words, the windmill, or the scene in the supermarket. And these are not all examples.
The setting and locations are great and it's interesting to see Ash interact in a big open world.
Making Ash (an everyday guy) the chosen one to become a total badass and that in a horror franchise makes him very unique just like his movies.
The costumes are epic too, especially evil Ash.
At first I didn't even know that Bruce had also played his evil version.
Practically this is just amazing, I wonder how they came up with the idea of the car and how Ash shows them how to make explosive arrows.
We also have sam raimi's camera work at it's peak.
Of course, the skeletons are still funny today.
I also think that the end of the director's cut was also very great and special. Ash's mistake with the drops suits the character.
Again, Bruce's acting is great when he wakes up and gets excited too soon.
Both endings are great, but the theatrical version has the better ending since there was never a fourth part.
The theatrical version ending is over the top, badass, funny and fits the character just as much.
This movie doesn't take itself seriously and the only thing I could criticize would be how bloodless the movie was and how bland most of the side characters were, but still memorable. It's amazing how Sam Raimi changed the formula of his horror franchise with every sequel.
It's not even a horror comedy, it's a fantasy comedy with a few horror elements.
But I didn't mind much.
If I would rate it more objectively, it would be an 8 or 9, but I love it just as much as Evil dead 2.
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I really get a kick out of "Army of Darkness", but I don't expect most folks to really enjoy it. You have to go in being fully aware of how it leans into its low budget. For some reason, all of the reasons that I really dislike just about every other Sam Raimi movie, proves to be a reason why I like this movie so much. I give it a C, if you've already seen the best, but you insist on watching a movie, try this one out.
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Despite not having 'Evil Dead' in its title, it's still apart of the Evil Dead franchise, so this should be a great movie to watch, right? Well, sort of.
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Was that A Joke,I'm i suppose to laugh!Ha ha ha **** one was seriously classic 2nd one toned down to comedy and spoof and now this don't know why it was such an awesome scary series.apart from connection to series as a standalone it was entertaining one time watch more like kids version of evil dead!music was good fights and action was over the top **** and screenplay was okay,visuals were terrible it felt like dumb-down version of game of thrones battle of north with night king.Overall seriously rubbish movie as per series.
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I am pretty good now, having slept for six hours instead of my four so I feel in a positive mood. So, this particular movie is a complete utter waste of your time unless you like overacting of the obnoxious kind, crappy dialog that borders on the campy, a redundant script and people being put down because that is funny or are seriously intoxicated.
The movie is carried by Campbell and that is about it. Bruce Campbell will never rank among the best of actors or even among admirable b actors. He overacts, is a buffoon and annoying, but he makes much of it up by sheer utter enthusiasm.
So there isn't really a good story as the movie is mostly a series of patched together sketches with Campbell as the star. Campbell graces the poster of the movie with a chainsaw for his right hand. It is used for a very short time just so it could be on the poster. The jokes are of the bottom kind: crude, at the expense of others, shaming people and embarrassing. For instance a running joke is that he calls the people of the middleages primitives. There is some slapstick in it that reminds you of Chalie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Unfortunately, because Campbell is such a crud you never get to like him as you get to like Chaplin and Keaton. Which is the iceberg that sinks this one. Campbell has no redeeming qualities, nothing that makes you like him or even 'get' him.
In the eighties cgi was unknown hence the army of the undead is made with stop motion. It is admirable to see how that is done, the patience and editing is laudable. Yet it looks totally awful today. Stop motion is still used in animation movies nowadays, with better skill, but never mind.
What else is there to say?
I skipped through parts of this brainless boring movie that probably gets pawned off as being cult. Garbage would be a better word.
Did I give it a five?
A two is better.
Make it so.
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Production Company
Dino De Laurentiis Company,
Renaissance Pictures,
Introvision International
Release Date Feb 19, 1993
Duration 1 h 21 m
Rating R
Tagline He's a 20th century guy, trapped in the middle ages.
Awards
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 5 Wins & 5 Nominations
Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
